تأملات هادئة قدر الإمكان فى عالم مستفز

My Bookmarx 10/31/2011

The Coming Insurrection (TCI), written by The Invisible Committee, has become quite the sensation across the political spectrum.3 Its anarchist and radical fans suggest that it’s a pivotal text of contemporary revolutionary thought, and while I don’t agree with all that The Invisible Committee say, I can easily recognize them as allies, kindred spirits, accomplices.

The Coming Insurrection, authored by the anonymous “Invisible Committee,” has been the subject of much controversy lately. Originally published in 2007 under the French title, L’insurrection qui vient (La Fabrique), the book has become focus of the “anti-terrorism” trials quoted in the above paragraph. The book is being published in English but its influence has already crossed the Atlantic.

What follows is a review of the English translation from the perspective of someone who desires the revolutionary transformation of society by self-organized sectors and involving long-term organizing and movement building, culminating in re-defining society’s institutions bearing on race, class, gender and decision-making to attain a classless and self-managed participatory society.

Egypt’s military rulers detained activist Alaa Abd El Fattah Sunday for allegedly inciting violence during a protest three weeks ago in which dozens were killed when the military violently attacked the crowd.

Egypt’s military prosecution detained a prominent activist Sunday, underlining the growing repression by Egypt’s military rulers as they increasingly restrict the freedom of expression and send civilians to military tribunals

As intense protests spawned by Occupy Wall Street continue to grow, it is worth asking: Why now? The answer is not obvious. After all, severe income and wealth inequality have long plagued the United States. In fact, it could reasonably be claimed that this form of inequality is part of the design of the American founding — indeed, an integral part of it.

The Makhnovist movement of the Ukraine is the best known of the revolutionary oppositions to the Bolshevik regime. But it was not the only radical challenge the Bolsheviks faced from below. Numerous peasants revolts occurred in the years 1920-22, aiming not to restore the old regime but to defend themselves from the new one. Nick Heath here examines their extent, causes and limitations.

This is a useful little pamphlet, giving as it does a short introduction to various rebellions against Bolshevik dictatorship by the proclaimed “ruling class” of that regime, workers and peasants. Peasant revolts in Siberian, the Don, Kuban, Ukraine and elsewhere are discussed, most of which took place in 1920-1. Interestingly, the leaders of these revolts were usually former Red Army officers. None, though, were as politically sophisticated as the Makhnovists.